Charisma had just gotten off the phone with Derrick. He was reluctant at first, but said that he would be willing to do anything that would get her out of his hair. She knew that he couldn’t believe that he was actually going to help her try to snag some guy, but they’d been friends for far too long for him to turn her down. Sure, they met in college, actually it was at a function at his college, and they had just recently reconnected due to her now best friend, Melody and his dating.
She was shocked and nearly jumped out of her seat when she saw him walk through the door with Mel. Mel looked at her in disbelief when she grabbed hold of him and pulled him into a hug.
Mel was about to turn downright irate and go back to her Latina roots when Derrick said, “Riz, what in the hell are you doing in Seattle? I thought you were going to California to cook for the stars!” They all sat down and noticing the look on Mel’s face, Charisma gave a quick synopsis of her life and what happened to her after college, and changed the subject to revolve around them.
Mel and Derrick’s relationship was still in the newer stage and Charisma didn’t want to be the reason that it didn’t work out.. They had only been going out for about four months. Melody and Charisma talked on the phone a lot, but between their respective jobs, narrowing down time for them to do face to face conversations was rare. This was the reason why it took Charisma 4 months to meet the new “squeeze” in Melody’s life.
She and Mel had been friends for about 6 years. They met at a conference for the empowerment of minority women being held in Chicago. Charisma had flown there for the event and to do some advertising for her company. She and Mel met at the luncheon when they were seated across from one another and surrounded by some of the snootiest and uppity minorities they’d both met. They shared that they were both from the Seattle area and could not stop talking and laughing about the other women who chose to move to another table after about an hour of their consistent and incessant giggling. They’d been inseparable ever since, at least via phone and email. They’d seen each other through a lot in that time. So she was beside herself when Derrick and Mel got together. They seemed like such a great fit. She was out done when she found out that they’d broken up.
She and Derrick hung out from time to time because they both loved sports and he was the only guy that she knew that was willing to go to a play or an Alvin Ailey dance type of performance with no strings attached. They always made sure to do it on a day that he and Mel didn’t already have plans. If he wasn’t available then she would go by herself. Derrick called her about a week after he and Mel had broken up and asked if it was okay for them to still be friends. Charisma didn’t even bat an eyelash. She wouldn’t allow the breakup to ruin her relationship with him nor Mel. He was excited because he needed someone to talk to that wouldn’t give him a hard time like his boys would. She enjoyed hanging out with Derrick, but he was like an older brother to her, which is why she knew that she could count on him for his assistance in project snag Andre.
Andre stood 5’11 and had the body of a Greek god. He had these gorgeous eyelashes and the smoothest bronze skin. His smile gleamed and lit up the room. His dimples were as deep as a cherry pit. When he spoke, he commanded attention. His very presence in a room showed that he was a force to be reckoned with. He was very clean cut. Everything he wore was crisp and pressed and just exuded money. When he held a conversation, there was an air of confidence and an honesty that had her mesmerized. She’d almost tipped the hors d’oeuvres onto the floor being so caught up in him.
She just wanted to get Andre to pay some form of attention to her. They’d been to several events in the same vicinity, but he always seemed too busy to notice or even acknowledge her beyond their initial meeting. She knew that Derrick and Andre knew of one another because of an event that brought the two of them together recently. So, she convinced Derrick buddy up to Andre. They would meet up regularly for updates on what Andre was up to and where he would possibly be. She chose events that would allow her maximum exposure to Andre, but her plan was failing miserably.
Mel could not believe her eyes. She didn’t understand how it could be possible that her best friend would do something like this to her. They hadn’t spoken in a little while, but that didn’t mean that she was leaving an opening for Charisma to swoop in and take over where she left off. Charisma never dated outside of her race, so why would she be doing so now? Had Derrick told Charisma how he felt about her back in college? Were those feelings back?
He just touched her hand. Oh, no! She just leaned into him. Oh, she was just reaching for his phone. Why would she need to look at his phone? They had been seeing a lot more of each other. Melody knew that they hung out from time to time and she told herself that despite Derrick’s prior feelings for Charisma, he actually loved Mel and at one time wanted to spend his life with her. He’d told Melody after they broke up that he needed to find a distraction. Little did she know that Charisma would provide the distraction and her mounds in front were more than enough.
They had been meeting like this for at least the past five weeks. Mel wondered if it was going on longer than that. She’s showing him the dress. Why would she be showing him what he would see on her later? He looks excited and pleased. Scum! What is going on here? He never reacted like that to anything she wore and she isn’t even wearing it. She is just showing it to him. She wished that she could get closer to find out what they were saying. It would make her life a lot easier because then she wouldn’t have to follow Charisma later. From their last conversation, she knew that Charisma had an event that evening that she was pretty excited about. She couldn’t call Derrick and find out what he was up to. She just assumed that they were going to be there together.
Although she hadn’t caught them together in the evening as of yet. They had gone to a game together, but drove separate cars and went to their respective homes afterwards. She really needed to be at the museum dealing with the new art exhibit, but she couldn’t pull herself away. She was too chicken to confront them because she really hadn’t caught them doing anything, yet. She just saw them together at lunch and a couple venues. She needed to have some solid proof that they were spending more than just “friend” time together. She needed hard evidence that they were an item. If they weren’t, then there was some serious explaining that needed to be done. She would need Charisma to explain why she hadn’t been keeping in touch. She would need to know why she and Derrick had been spending so much time together. She would need to understand how they openly decided to write her out of both of their lives.
She peered over at the table again. Evidently she’d been lost in thought because when she looked at the restaurant again she saw Charisma at the register with her bags, but she didn’t see Derrick though. It was strange because she couldn’t have been that far gone to have missed an exchange that signaled they were parting ways. Charisma was making her way out of the restaurant. Mel saw a man that looked like Derrick walk in the opposite direction, but not before turning to check out Charisma’s butt. Pendejo! Tramposa! She heard someone behind her and turned to see just who it was. She was ready to reel on them for being so close to her and invading her personal space the way they had chosen to do. When she turned, she did not expect to be looking into the face that had captivated her heart and dreams for so many days. She really didn’t expect to be looking at him especially since she could have sworn that he’d been across the street checking out her friend. Derrick looked down at her with a very puzzled frown. She could tell that she’d been busted, but didn’t quite know how much he’d figured out.
Charisma took in the view of her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing her signature color of pink. She decided to go with a simple strapless, knee-length dress that fit snuggly on her size 12 frame. The midsection of the dress had ruching to hide her flaws in that area and had a mock split along the side to give a flirty appeal. Her shoulder length dark brown hair had red streaks throughout which highlighted her pecan toned skin. Her jewelry
was all gold. She decided that each precious portion of her body should shimmer. She wore an anklet on her right ankle. She also wore a gold watch, a chain around her neck with a lily charm, a rose ring on her right index finger, a toe ring, and bracelets on each arm. She misted her body with a body spray with shimmering specs of gold in it. She took one last glance in the mirror, slipped her feet into her gold slingbacks, grabbed her wrap and purse, and headed for the car.
On the drive to the restaurant, she thought to herself how nice the drive was while she was trying to calm herself. The excitement was beginning to get to her. She couldn’t believe that after all this time of trying to lure Andre to her that she was finally “dating” him. Technically, it wasn’t a date. It was a meeting for a function that they were responsible for organizing. Andre is the Managing Director of Marketing for one of the most sought after marketing firms in Washington, Carter-McNeil’s Marketing Professionals. She knew that his firm would be heading up the marketing efforts for the Joshua McQueen Dreamer’s Found Foundation. The program assisted teens with the basics to establish roots for their dreams. The program was started in New York, then reached to Detroit, Chicago, and was now coming to Seattle. Charisma was owner and head chef of Charismatic Eats and Treats; a catering company that she’d been running for the past 10 years. Her clientele ranged anywhere from the Mayor of Seattle to any one of the stars of Hollywood that made their way to Seattle, although she wasn’t beyond taking her show on the road.
She was beyond ecstatic to find out that her company was chosen to cater such a grand scale event that was to be housed in the Palace Ballroom. It took some finagling but they finally conceded to allowing her company to cater the event. Mr. McQueen could be very persuasive when he chose to be. Choosing a restaurant for her meeting with the man who occupied the majority of her thoughts and dreams was a project in and of itself. She had a choice between three of her favorite places: Space Needle Sky City (crab cakes, clam chowder, and the halibut that usually went home with her), Cascadia Restaurant (spring lamb), or Ray’s boathouse (chocolate desserts, crab cakes). Yes, it is sad to find that a meeting was planned around the menu, but great eats are great eats.
Cascadia Restaurant was where she finally decided to have them meet. The magnificence of this restaurant is so difficult to put into words. The lounge is comfortable enough to relax in after a hard days work but also high quality if you need to conduct business. Just about every table in the dining area had a spectacular view of the shimmering stars in the sky on a clear evening. On the evenings that it rained, you could listen to the plink of the droplets on the glass on the windows. The tables are adorned with multiple colored plates: sky blue, marigold, beige, and a periwinkle color. The water wall is an exquisite added feature to the allure of the restaurant. The sconces on the walls give off a gentle hint of light that reflects off the lights in the shorter dividing walls. The ambiance is classy, elegant, and yet romantic with the lighting as it is. She hoped that very ambiance would promote a multitude of ideas and allow Andre to see her in a different light. The classiness of the restaurant allowed for a business meal to be conducted, but wasn’t so stuffy that business couldn’t be turned into pleasure, which is why she chose it. Not to mention the Chef’s spring lamb was the best that she’d ever tasted and would give her right arm to have another taste of it.
Andre was waiting in the lounge for her when she arrived at the restaurant. She feared that she was late or she’d kept him waiting, but when the hostess stated that he’d only just arrived himself a couple moments earlier, she breathed a sight of relief. He looked like a tall, refreshing drink of sexiness when he stood to meet her. A waiter had just come and told him that the table was ready and they could be seated when his party arrived. From the look in his eyes, she’d chosen the right dress. Whomever said that the eyes were the windows to your soul should’ve reworded it a bit to add, to your thoughts. By the way he was taking her in, she could tell that he had more than business in his thoughts. She signaled to him to get his eyes back focused on her face. It was a subtle signal of her fixing her necklace then moving her hand to her glasses as if to fix them. It did the trick. He readjusted himself and picked up his portfolio. She had hers under her arm when he took her arm and placed it in the crook of his right arm. As they walked over to the table, he kept his focus forward. It bothered Charisma until she realized that he was watching their reflections in the water wall. She couldn’t do anything but smile. He slickly led her to the chair and placed the chair strategically so that he was able to watch her slide into the chair. She was enjoying the fact that he was taking notice of every part of her.
They’d barely found comfort in their seats before he stated that he didn’t want to talk business at all. He was hoping that this would not be a formal meeting and the dress that she was wearing let him know that it wasn’t going to be. He said that he’d wanted to ask her out before and had been watching her since the first day that they were introduced and he was almost wearing the food that she’d been carrying. She giggled as she remembered that moment. He’d had to leave early that evening before there was time to make personal contact with her. Every other time they were in the same room together she seemed to be preoccupied with other people and was never really alone. She could do nothing but laugh then.
She told him how she’d gone out of her way to make herself available to be visible by him, but it seemed to not be working. She told him how she’d enlisted the help of Derrick to find out where he’d be. She said that she did everything but walk directly up to him and hand him her phone number. She told him that would’ve been too bold and direct for her and if he hadn’t called, she would’ve probably just melted into a puddle. It was his turn to laugh. They enjoyed the rest of the evening and made plans for the next night. As they were getting up to leave the restaurant, Charisma saw someone looking in through the windows. She could tell that the person was looking directly at her. She readjusted herself to see if she could get a better view. She could tell that it was a woman. She could see her hair. Andre asked if she was okay. She replied affirmatively, then craned her neck a bit more to see that she recognized the face. Melody! What the…!
Derrick was looking at Melody and waiting for an answer. She could see it in his eyes, but she must’ve blacked out for a minute. She didn’t hear a question or anything. All she knew was that one-minute she was looking across the street at “Derrick” and now there he stood before her. He repeated the question because she must’ve made a noise that resembled a misunderstanding of his words or a noncompliance of data input. She stood frozen in a crotched position for another 10 seconds before standing up to her full height and stating the obvious. She stated that he was probably wondering what she was doing lurking beyond the bushes that were at her back.
Derrick knew her well enough to know that she was stalling trying to figure out a logical way out of this. She still hadn’t figured out anything else to say. If she admitted that she’d been watching them then that would be weird and he would probably call “the people” on her. She tried to think of something, anything, but nothing came to mind. She stood there and all that would come to the forefront of her mind was the truth. She stood for another second hoping that something else would come out when she finally spoke. She started saying that it would be crack you up hilarious when she told him. He didn’t look to view that as even a remote possibility. She leaned back forgetting that nothing was there to catch her but the bushes and fell in. Derrick fell out laughing as he tried to pull her up. Embarrassment filled every part of her and through her laughter tears began to fall. Derrick directed her to a nearby bench. As she sat down she began the tale of the crazy and jealous ex-gilrfriend. By the time she was finished, she could tell that he was livid.
He stood and began walking away. She began walking after him, but was finding it hard to keep up with his pace, especially since his legs were much longer than hers. He asked her to not follow him and to give him time. She knew that would be th
e death of her, having to wait and see what he came up with and how he felt. What would Charisma’s response be? She knew that he was going to tell her as soon as he could. She had to help him to understand what was going through her head. She chased him for another couple blocks, trying to explain herself. He finally turned around and headed towards her. This completely threw her off and she began backing away slowly. He was coming closer and closer to her. Her heart was racing. When he reached her, he pulled her by her arm nearly pulling it out of the socket and told her that she was going to see for herself what was going on.
He made a few stops along the way. The walk to the car was quick and the car ride to complete his errands was quiet. He didn’t look her way except for the moments when he looked into the mirror on her side of the car. After about an hour of dead silence because he refused to turn on the radio that was usually on and she had been too afraid to even move, she spoke and asked him if he planned on speaking to her at all. He pulled the car off the road and parked it. She thought to herself that it was rather late and getting dark. What was he planning on doing? She also thought back to his errands. What exactly did he get while they were out? He looked at her shaking his head and finally spoke to her. He told her how she didn’t deserve an explanation, but he would provide her with one. He told her of the project that he and Charisma had been working on and all about the meetings. He even explained why she and Charisma hadn’t spoken in so long. They, he and Charisma, had wondered why they couldn’t get her on the phone at work. He now understood why. He started the car and began driving again. He told her that since she’d begun the whole private eye deal and could take off time for that but not for them, he would take her so that she could have the complete proof that she needed.
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